


A Quiet Despair

by Galactica_Brit



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Comfort/Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 12:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6424879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galactica_Brit/pseuds/Galactica_Brit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To study a superhero you need the right incentive for cooperation. Max Lord knows who Kara Danvers is, and who her biggest weakness is. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

“Put it on. Round your neck. I want to hear it click in place.”

Kara glared down at the metal circle 4 feet away on the ground where it had landed after he’d thrown it towards her. The green glow obvious, if she put that on she’d be powerless. Helpless.

Her gaze moved back up, to Maxwell Lord's smug face, his teeth bared as he gloated at her, slowly moving the barrel of his gun up and down the soft skin of Cat’s cheek as he held her immobile infront of him, his human shield.

Cat implored Kara with her eyes not to do this, to take him out while she had her powers, her trust in Supergirl absolute. If she were not gagged with foul tasting cloth tied tight between her teeth she’d be telling her in no uncertain terms to take this idiot down.

But Cat knew, could see in her assistant's eyes that wasn’t going to happen. Kara Danvers, Supergirl for goodness sake, could not bring herself to endanger Cat Grant in the slightest. And it was this knowledge that Max Lord had seized on to bring them to this impasse.

“One more chance Supergirl, pick it up and lock it around your neck.”

Kara hesitated, trying to reason with him “Max come on, let her go I wont fight….no, no, don’t touch her” she scrambled to get the collar on as Max had struck Cat brutally in the kidneys when Kara had tried talking.

The kyrptonite's effects were immediate, her legs almost buckled, her head swam, she felt weak, disorientated, only her need to not let Cat down held her upright on shaking legs.

Cat’s eyes were sad, desperate, not for herself but for Kara. Her stupid, brave Kara. It had been getting harder and harder for Cat not to let her feelings get the better of her. Harder not to simply give in to the shy glances and blushes she so easily elicited from her assistant, the girls crush obvious, flattering. But Cat knew better, knew how it would impact not only her reputation but on the younger woman's. No one wanted to be known for sleeping to the top, even if that wasn't the intent. And as much as Cat wanted her, lord knows she wanted her, she had to be the mature one.

And lets not even take into account the fact Kara still insisted on pretending not to be Supergirl. Cat was not stupid. Somehow yes, there had been both of them in the room at one time, but aliens were real for goodness sake, that parlor trick couldn't be so difficult to pull off in that context! But no, Kara still played the innocent, the computer hobbit and Mr James Olsen complicit in the "oh she had to go for a dental appointment", "she's held up at Noonan's" convenient lies to explain why Supergirl was on their screens everytime Kara was not in the office. In a way it was adorable, teasing Kara gently whenever she could, the rabbit caught in the headlights terror everytime. Cat was fine with it, one day Kara would explain why she lied. Cat would never expose the secret regardless. 

But Maxwell Lord had taken away that choice. For Kara to come to her and no doubt bumble her way through an explanation when the time was right. Instead he'd lured Cat away for a 'meeting', proceeded to knock her out, tie her up and send a text message to Kara suggesting she come along post haste with her favourite outfit on. And of course the stupid, naïve, heroic girl had done just that. Clearly not having informed her Rottweiler of a sister as explicitly stated by Lord. 

Kara, Supergirl, her own personal hero. Had just given herself up. Cat was going to have a very strong chat with the girl when this was over.


	2. 2

The whitewashed concrete wall infront of her was swimming in her vision. She could not stop the tears forming and spilling across her face as she sat hugging her knees, fighting herself not to turn around. The cold concrete floor had numbed her body hours ago as she sat there. Listening. Praying. God when was the last time she'd prayed. But she was utterly desperate. Nothing she'd tried had worked so far. She'd begged, pleaded, offered money, power, control of CatCo, herself, anything. But she was finally understanding that her place here was merely as a control. To keep the truly most powerful woman in National City under control.

Another scream echoed around her cell from what was taking place outside the iron bars behind her. Cat dropped her head to her knees. Sheer disbelief at her predicament had long ago given way to anger at herself for letting it come to this. She should have fired Kara the first time she'd threatened it. Should have pushed her away, stopped the crush when it became obvious. But she'd been selfish. The attention, the adoration, the devotion, she'd been warmed by it. It had been a long time since she'd been wanted like that, not because of her power, but because of whatever it was the damn girl saw in her. And she'd been a fool having fallen for her 10.15 the moment she'd handed her the pen in that interview. She'd fallen hard. And now Kara, dear sweet Kara was suffering brutality because of it. And there was evidently nothing she could do.

The awful noises continued. She could hear Kara's whimpers, heartbreaking, constant interspersed with screams wrenched from her everytime Max took the whip to her. It had taken a long while for Kara to be so vocal. It had angered him as she refused to vocalise her pain. They all knew it was to save Cat the anguish of hearing her pain. And so he'd taken it up a notch, hitting harder, faster, again and again and again until that first choked scream broke her ability to remain silent.

In the gaps, when he took a break because he was tired, not because she was in pain, Cat could make out drops of blood hitting the floor. How bad was the damage to her back for it to be dripping off her. And then he'd start again and the quiet drops of blood were replaced with noises Cat never wanted to hear from another person, least of all Kara. And still she resolutely didn't watch. Not to save herself the vision, but because Kara had demanded it of her.

_"Miss Grant, please.....please...turn around. Please don't watch this. Please". Kara was pleading with her boss to not witness this humiliation._

_Lord had locked Cat into a small cell along one side of the lab. She stood gripping the iron bars of the door, entirely focused on Kara who had been strung up like a side of meat. Lord had only to threaten Cat and Kara had stood still and allowed him to fasten metal cuffs on each wrist before he pulled on the chains attached to the cuffs, using pulleys hooked into the ceiling to raise her arms high and wide, stretching her up until only her toes reached the ground._

_He'd stepped back, inordinately pleased with himself as he photographed the mighty Supergirl, in full outfit and cape hanging from his ceiling, helpless, powerless, his. As he moved towards her Cat tried her best to dissuade him. Her tone going from haughty, indifferent, to seductive, to pleading, to desperate. She offered him anything and everything she could think of to let Kara go._

_“Max let her go. Have me instead. Come on, I know how much I hurt you when I mauled your reputation in the press after we split. You know you can hurt me far worse than the Girl of Steel....”_

_His laugh cut her off. He stood behind Kara watching Cat "Oh now come on Catherine....you barely dented my reputation with your pathetic spite back then. But you're right I do want to hurt you, but isn't it just deliciously ironic that I'll never have to lay a finger on you to do that", he ran his hands up Kara's sides from her hips around her waist, his hands stopping over the S emblem, "Imagine my delight when I realised who your assistant really was, innocent young Danvers here, wrapped up in one big blue and red package" his hands moved to cup Kara's breasts through her suit, she squirmed trying to get away, he squeezed harder, she relented and looked away from Cat's angry gaze, "and imagine my joy when I saw the looks you gave her, really Cat, shes half your age"._

_Kara couldn't let this go on, using all strength she had left she kicked back going for his knee. Evidently the collar was more powerful than she'd hoped and she barely scuffed his leg. But it was enough to break his attention from Cat and Kara was fully prepared to take the consequences. He kicked her legs from under her, leaving her hanging by her wrists as she scrabbled to get her feet back on the ground. Cats protests fell on deaf ears._

_"Enough of this chatter then if you're so eager to start Supergirl. Lets see whats under this suit shall we?". Max was angry, he circled her and punched her twice across her face, once in the ribs, "Do not EVER try anything against me again unless you want your boss to bleed. You got me?". Still trying to catch her breath Kara nodded, her eyes ablaze with hate._

_Then he brought out a large hunting knife and started to cut and rip the hero suit from Kara's trembling body. It wasn't the proximity of the knife that caused her reaction, it was being stripped against her will. Infront of Cat. Infront of not only her boss but the woman she freely admitted to herself she loved. This could not be happening._

_"Miss Grant, please.....please...turn around. Please don't watch this. Please". Kara didn't know how far he was going to go, was he going to strip her completely naked? It didn't matter in the end because she couldn't stop it. But Rao knew she couldn't bear the thought of her boss seeing her humiliation. Yes of course Kara had often dreamed of encounters with Cat, naked ones at that. But not like this. Never like this._

_"Keira, focus on me. You hear me, look at me, you're going to be fine. Look at me Keira......look at me". Cat tried her best to take control of Kara, she knew the girl responded well to her commands any other time, suspected it would be a trait they would both enjoy in the long term, but she needed it to work for her now. "Kara," her real name, an indication of Cat's terror as Lord now had the suit off._

_Kara stood before her in plain black underwear, shivering, "Kara, you are mine, you hear me, mine. Look at me". She was failing, Kara could not meet her eyes. The poor girl was flush with shame as she hung there. All long lean limbs, the hard muscle clear under her smooth skin. The collar negating all that power._

_Max once again stood behind Kara, watching Cat's reaction as he hugged the girl to him, his arm around her waist, the knife in the other hand running across her collarbones, ever so lightly cutting her skin, a thin red line left in its wake. Kara's eyes closed as she dealt with the pain, so unused to feeling it, blood being drawn normally impossible for the Kryptonian._

_"Yours Cat? Really? I beg to differ". As he spoke the hand around her waist trailed down towards the waistband of her underwear, Kara bucked to shake him off but he drove the knife into her bicep in retaliation elicting a sharp cry from both women. "Stay. Still" His words like ice in her ear. His hand slid into her underwear, cupping her most private of places. Kara's face flamed red, her eyes closed in shame as she dropped her head down. Cat looked on horrified. "All of this is mine, all of it, you'd do well to remember that." His point made, he let her go, smirking at Cat._

_They could both hear Max chuckling to himself as he turned away leaving Supergirl shivering and partly clothed, amused by Cat's attempts to try to get her attention. As he moved away Kara glanced upwards meeting Cat's eyes, terrified, desperate, ashamed. She could see tears welling in Cat's eyes as she spoke, "Kara, no matter what, we are going to get through this you hear me." Kara nodded, unable to speak._

_It was then that she saw Cat's gaze widen in horror as she watched Max turn around, Kara, her back to him struggled to turn around to see what had elicited that look. She didn't get far before she felt it though. A whip. A single long tailed leather whip. It bit across her shoulders. It was a pain unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Blood dripped from her mouth where she'd bitten her lip to keep quiet. To not give him the satisfaction of a response._

_Desperate now, knowing what brutality he was about to inflict and unsure if she could withstand it without her powers, Kara pleaded with Cat to look away. This pain, this humiliation was going to break her if Cat watched, if she saw how with no powers, defenceless, Kara was nothing, no superhero for sure. That was unacceptable let alone for her boss, her love to witness._

_"Miss Grant please. You can't watch this," a grunt bitten off as he struck again, Kara battled to hold her eyes up "Please. Please. Turn around. Please"._

_Cat stared horrified as Max took another swing at Kara. Could see the girl jerk forward under the force, see her have to will herself to be quiet. All the time she held her eyes up. Cat could see how difficult this was for her. Selfishly she wanted to watch, to prove to Kara she wasn't alone. But she knew how difficult it had been for her to ask, to plead with Cat to turn away. And she knew if the situation were reversed how much she would want privacy to deal with this torture. So she held Kara's gaze one more time._

_"You are mine Kara. You are strong. You will get through this." She put all the love and ownership she could elicit into her voice and eyes, and then she turned away, walked to the back of her cell and sat down. Tears streaming unnoticed down her face as eventually the first scream pierced the air._


	3. 3

It seemed that Supergirl had the same response to a soothing hand brushing through her hair as Carter did. Cat lost count of the times as her son grew that she found herself in this exact same position with him when he’d had a particularly trying day at school. With Carter he’d curl up beside her on the sofa in a ball, his head resting on her thighs as they watched TV, Cat’s hand absently stroking through his hair, gently scratching his scalp, tucking curls behind his ear, over and over until he relaxed and calmed.

Here and now if she closed her eyes she could almost convince herself it was the same. Only instead of a comfortable sofa she was sat on a concrete floor, her back leaning against a cold concrete wall with her legs stretched out in front of her. Instead of watching one of her son’s favourite shows her view ahead was of a wall of iron bars and beyond that a blood spattered length of floor.

But the main difference, the undeniable proof of just how bad this situation was lay beside her. Supergirl, no in truth this now was Kara, lay prone alongside her, stomach to the ground, head resting on Cat’s left thigh facing away from her. Kara’s arms were shackled together behind her back. The cruelty of that when she was so clearly incapacitated infuriated Cat, more so when Max tightened then beyond necessity after Cat had protested his use of them.

And oh, her back.

Cat had trouble looking at it directly. Even in her peripheral vision all she saw was red. From the girls upper shoulders down to her the waistband of her boy shorts her back was virtually flayed. Blood both dried and drying covered her and ran down her sides underneath her. Gouges and rips in her skin were drying into stiff strips.

It was all so violent and unnecessary and if not for the damned glowing green collar Cat knew it would have healed immediately.

As she sat there in the silence unable to sleep despite her bone tiredness, she could’t help but compare the stillness of Kara now compared to a few hours earlier when she’d first landed in the cell.

X-x-x-x

_  
_

_Cat glared silently at Lord as he closed the cell door again. She had done as told, moved to the back wall and put her hands behind her head. Protest was futile._

_After he’d tortured Kara for hours with the whip she was reduced to a whimpering heap huddled in a pool of her own blood where she'd landed as soon as her restraints had been undone from the ceiling. Lord kicked her over onto her stomach and wrenched her arms behind her, locking a set of cuffs around her already mangled wrists. Cat had protested his treatment of the poor girl and he'd merely crouched down, put one hand directly on Kara’s tortured back and ratcheted the cuffs tighter._

_  
“Anything else to say Cat?” He chuckled as he opened the cell door and then bodily heaved and dragged Supergirl in, dropping her face first inside the door. As he stepped back he warned Cat that if she tried to take the collar off he’d know, and she wouldn't like what he'd do to her girlfriend if he had to come back before he was ready. Then he about the left the lab, locking the outer door and leaving them in relative darkness._

_Cat ran over to Kara, dropping to her knees, face aghast at the awful state of her back, hands fluttering over her unsure what to do. No medical equipment, not even water to clean the wounds._

_“Hurts. Rao please……hurts”. Kara's voice was almost unrecognisable. Hoarse from screaming, filled with tears and agony. It was so soft Cat had to lean down towards her to hear properly. When she could make out what was being said over and over her heart dropped to her stomach. She was hurting, beyond all reasoning and Cat had neither stopped it nor could she provide medical aid to make it better._

_“Oh Keira, hold on you’re going to be fine. Just hold on. Let's get you more comfortable.” Cat reverted to her pet name, hoping to bring normality and reassurance to the young girl. On trying to move her though it became obvious even the slightest movement was intolerable. Which had led to Cat sliding herself under Kara's head, unable to do much more with the restraints in place._

_Tentatively she laid one hand on the blonde hair, damp with sweat and trailing away down the lengths past where they were soaked in blood. The shuddering and crying beneath her began to calm as she continued the motion. Over and over she stroked Kara’s hair, muttering soothing noises, willing her to pass out to escape the pain._

_Softly, ever so softly she heard Kara, “I’m so sorry Miss Grant, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’ll never let him hurt you I swear. I won't….”._

_“Keira, enough. You listen to me, this is not your fault. You hear me. That sadistic narcissistic…” She tailed off realising she needed to tone it down a notch, “You have done nothing but protect me since I’ve known you. Even when I didn't officially know of your alter ego you have looked out for me. This. This is not on you.”_

_She continued the soothing motion, trying to will away the hurt with each pass of her hand over and around the girls ear._

_“I meant what I said. We will get through this. You and me. I won't let him touch you again Keira……you’re too impor…..you mean…..” Cat couldn't find the right words so she relied on what had worked before, “you’re mine Supergirl, and it's time I looked after you for once.”_

_Cat looked down, seeing her Supergirl, the toughest woman on the planet, had passed out._

 


End file.
